Thursday night I came down with a pretty violent sinus infection. It literally knocked me on my ASS Friday and Saturday. Friday I don't think I even took a mile's worth of steps, and even if I did it was very zombie like and NOT fitness oriented AT ALL. So, I will count that as a zero day. Saturday I felt a little better, but still was pretty icky; I took full advantage of the steam room at my gym, going for about an hour and walking on the treadmill at a snail's pace after. I figured it should count for something. Then, later that night I did some gentle yoga because I was sore from not moving much the past two days. It was nice.

So, my week's total is ........... 20.75mi!
The weekly goal is 24.50mi, Which means I am down....-3.75mi
Icky. Another week in the red. Granted, last week I was only a quarter of a mile in the red, but still, I'm trying not to make a habit of it! I also am having trouble keeping track of what days Mary and I hit the gym together and whether or not we do a class, or work out our core, or arms, or legs.... I need a calendar in my car so I can write it when I leave each day! :-P

So, my 11 week total up until this point is.....

294.03miles!

That's +24.53 miles from my 11-week goal.... I'm almost a FULL WEEK AHEAD!

OMG I'm in GEORGIA!!!!! WOOOO!!!!!!

GOODBYE FLORIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!

A zoomed out look....

Still a ways to go though.....

Huzzah!! I am very happy to see that number! It kinda leads into my stolen-from-Amy idea of the random picture for tonight.....

With all of this craziness going on in EVERYONE'S lives at ANY MOMENT..... don't forget to STOP and BE AWESOME!

And, one for the road, because this Doctor knew what it was ALL ABOUT!

Sunday, September 22, 2013

What a week it has been! I still have that funky feeling I just can't shake, and I think I have an idea on what it is. I was talking with my new gym buddy Mary and she made a comment on how defined and toned my arms have gotten. It seems to me I have hit a sort of plateau in my fitness routine and have nothing really challenging me anymore. With Johnny's Zumba class now twice a week, I am gaining more confidence in my moves but also have noticed it getting easier for me to do it. Where I used to struggle with moves and routines I see myself stepping up to the front lines and pretty much joining in next to him during class.
I do not see a change in my measurements, and while the 16's still fit good, I just feel like I could be doing MORE. But, I don't have anything around here that interests me. Unlike my friends on the East Coast who are doing OCR's (Obstacle Course Races), there isn't a whole lot on this side, and besides... I am alone in the adventure anyway. Mary is not a runner, which is okay, but I really have no one to push me and compete with on that front. For now anyway...

Let's get it on with this week's numbers! We have hit week 10! It's a miracle!!

Sunday : Weights and core workout, plus my everyday walking = 3.50 miles
Monday : Everyday walking, plus some pre-dinner speed walking = 3.75 miles
Tuesday : Johnny Zumba, everyday walking, and some pre-zumba weights = 3.95 miles
Wednesday : bad day. I only got in my normal everyday steps = 1.75 miles
Thursday : I did some core workouts at home, about an hours worth. plus my everyday steps = 2.75 miles
Friday : Zumba, weights, and my normal everyday steps = 5.25 miles
Saturday : I hung out by the pool and managed to burn even with sunblock on. BUT I did make about 8 laps in the pool, 6 swimming and 2 running the length. It took me about an hour. plus our walks throughout the day = 3.75 miles

This week's total is....... 24.25 miles! Which is -0.25 miles from my weekly goal. Ouch. SO CLOSE!!

I did have an exciting side-trip this week. Landing outside of Jacksonville last week gave me the opportunity to stop in to the Jacksonville Zoo this week on my way through!! Go check out the pictures!!

Don't forget, if you're reading this, then you should also be reading Amy's blog too!! She is doing an awesome job and has a good idea of something fun to break her routine, I think we should encourage her to do it!! :) :)

EDIT: I forgot to include my landing point pictures for the week!!! ACK!!

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

I lost a little bit of myself this week I think. It was a tough week in terms of schooling, work, and making my daily 3.5 mile goal. While I can proudly say I hit my goal, I felt like I lost a piece of myself somewhere and haven't been able to shake this feeling yet. Not really sure how else to describe it..

So let's jump in!

Sunday : On Sunday I missed zumba. My instructor, Johnny, was out of town and I really didn't have a chance to make it to the gym anyway with work so.... I did my every day normal steps for 1.75 miles and then had a nice 2 mile walk when I got home, for a daily total of 3.75 miles. (+.25 miles)

Monday : I had school in the morning and have a new way of putting in some extra UMPH into those school days (M,W,F). I take the staircase up to the second floor on the opposite side of where my class is on the far side of the building, go down one side of the main stairs, then up the other staircase, and then when I leave I go down the staircase near where my class is. Essentially I am walking up an extra flight of stairs three days a week. It burns my legs and hurts my knees some mornings, but I do it anyway! Through normal walking and a 2-mile pre-dinner walk in which I forgot my FitBit, I made my standard 3.75 miles. (+.25 miles)

Tuesday : I managed to hit up half of a spin class (I got out of work late, but Heidi, my spin instructor, is gracious enough to let me join in halfway... she normally doesn't allow that, but she must have seen the NEED on my face!). It was a rough day at work, we are down a supervisor so my hours teetered up a little this week, but I have high hopes they'll be going down as I get closer to my "vacation" (It's not a paid vacation, but merely a 5-day off stretch I requested to get some shit done around the house a little rest from the stresses of work and school. According to my spin timer I did 5 miles on the bike. Not bad. :) (+1.50 miles)

Wednesday : This was a rough day for fitness. I had class early then decided to go to our public library to study and catch up on reading for my classes. I can do all of that at home, but I've discovered that's not so good for my diet. I snack forage constantly. I counted it one day a few weeks ago and when I'm in the office studying or doing school work I am usually up 5-6 times per hour to snack or grab a handful of this or that. So, at the library I can't do that. Two days a week after class I'll be going, not only because it's pantry-free, but also the quiet ambiance is better than my cat and dog running crazy around the house. I didn't get anything exercise wise, just my 1.75 mile daily steps. (-1.75 miles)

Thursday : Thursday was a GREAT day. One of my zumba buddies, Mary, and I have started to see that cardio isn't going to cut it if we want to lose our guts! So, we decided to weight train a few days a week in order to burn that excess fat! This was the first day and it was awesome. I brought along my Biggest Loser workouts, and we spent an hour going through and working our arms, legs, and core. We have a new mantra we use whenever we start to whine: NO PAIN, NO GAIN! Nothing new or fancy, but we say it quite a bit! After we were done we spent another 45 minutes on the treadmill getting to know each other better. She's still really an "acquaintance" but I'm sure she'll move to "friend" status soon enough as we get to know each other better! :) Today's totals were: 4.00 miles (+.50 miles)

Friday : Day 2 with Mary. We continued our workout with an hour of weights followed by an hour of zumba. I was sore from the day before, but not enough that I needed rest. It's like my muscles knew of this type of training once before and were re-awakened by it. They were happy, as was my soul. It felt good to know if I kept this up I'd have that flat tummy in no time! Today's totals were: 4.50 miles (+1.00 mile)

Saturday : Mary wanted to try mat pilates, and the cardio club (read: big studio with no weights) that my mother-in-law goes to was having a grand re-opening to celebrate an expansion, so they were offering free classes. We thought the mat pilates was at 11, so we shot for that... and discovered that Mary read the schedule wrong! Piloxing (pilates + boxing) was at 11! So, we gave that a shot! Holy MOLEY! I was feeling it not even halfway through! I also had a pretty fitness intensive day at work, on top of the 1.75 miles I get to record for my everyday walking I did spend almost 90 minutes moving cribs and picking up heavy furniture upstairs, which I am going to count as 1.5 miles of fitness. I had to buy a new shirt as mine was DRENCHED! Totals for this day were: 4.25 miles (+.75 miles)

So, totals for this week are:

27.00 miles!((+2.25 mi))
Not my best week, but not a bad week to say the least. If you want to see something TOTALLY impressive, pop on over to Amy's blog and see how badly she kicked my ass this week!!!

For the 9-week total I have walked 249.03 miles
The 9-week goal at this point it 220.5 miles
I am ahead of the game by +28.8 miles!! WOOT!

Where in the world is Julie resting this week?

I am so close to Jacksonville! I am stopped in

a little park for a rest and some S'mores!

"The road so far" (for you, Amy!)

If I squint I can almost

see my destination!!! :)

This week I have a feeling I'm going to hit a nice stride in my fitness. I am learning to control my eating habits, especially escaping the temptation of my pantry by going to the library for studying.

This week I have been a slacker. It's Tuesday and I am just getting around to finishing this. To my defense, I have three classes and a really crappy job that have been taking up my time, but I also had company this weekend so I wasn't near the computer much. I'm hoping to cross into Georgia this week, and have some fun picking peaches!

Go report to Amy's page and tell her what a slacker I have been. THEN, go make sure you give her EXTRA cheer this week because she was SOOO CLOSE to hitting her goal, that I just KNOW she'll make it this week!!!! :) :) :)

Goal: 24.50
Actual: 27.99Difference: +3.49 miles!
WOOHOO! A small victory! If I hadn't done that spin class I would have for sure missed that goal!

So, where am I now?

I'm almost to Disneyland!!

I can almost see Cinderella's castle in Orlando!! :)

Total distance travelled: 194.33 mi
I'm closing in on ONE THOUSAND MILES!!

I have another 287 miles to go before I'm out of Florida and into Georgia.

Looking at my 7 week average, I'm averaging about 27.76 miles per week. That's only 3.25 miles more than my weekly goal. I need to step that up!! I'm hoping this week I can at least put 10 extra miles on my total on top of my minimum goal! (And it'll be without the spin class!)

If you have yet to discover what this is all about, please go see Amy. She is way more detailed than I am. And while you're there, give her a good pat on the back for her 7-week record so far and a cheer to keep her going!